September 2016 - LEND360

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is considering allowing financial technology (or fintech) firms to become special purpose banks. This new status would allow them to largely avoid the state-by-state regulation that currently applies to them, but not to their bank competitors. Unsurprisingly, this prospect is not popular with state regulators, as reported in a recent American Banker story. They argue that such a move would weaken consumer protection and increase risk. Read full article.